Out of the Blue
by LanieSullivan
Summary: Extended tag from "Tail of the Dancing Weasel" in which Amanda learns a little-known secret about the agency's founder, Harry V. Thornton.


**Out of the Blue**

Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This is an idea that I've had rattling around in my brain for years on what Harry's role was in the agency after his retirement and why he still had all his security clearances long afterward. Set immediately following the tag of "Tail of the Dancing Weasel."

Lee and Amanda stood for a moment gazing at the bullet holes in Harry's portrait, sharing a smile before Amanda piped up, "Boy, Mrs. Marston sure did a number on it, didn't she?"

"I'd say she improved it immensely," Harry's voice sounded from behind them. "Gives it much more character."

Lee, looking a bit startled, questioned, "Where'd you come from?"

Harry chuckled. "Have I taught you nothing about watching your flank?" Lee rolled his eyes at that while Harry continued, "I was just taking a walk in the woods...enjoying the scenery." He then smiled warmly at Amanda. "Why don't you bring that infernal thing into the house and join me for some lunch?"

"That would be very nice. Thank you," Amanda replied with a nod.

Twenty minutes later, Amanda having made herself at home in Harry's kitchen while the men dealt with hanging the painting, entered the living area carrying a tray laden with sandwiches and a coffee service while Lee and Harry stood back looking at the painting there. "Looks good, huh?" Lee was saying as she set the tray down.

"Perfect," Amanda answered. "Much better there than in the Georgetown foyer." She then nodded to the tray on the coffee table. "Lunch is ready."

"You know, Amanda, you didn't have to do this," Harry said in a slightly scolding tone. "I'm the host here."

"Oh, it was no trouble...," Amanda responded with a wave of her hand as they took their seats and began to dig in, "it's just a couple of sandwiches and some coffee...besides you should have been involved in the hanging of your painting...I don't know...to celebrate your success in clearing your name...or something."

"OUR success..." Harry corrected. "I couldn't have done it without you. The way you put the pieces together with Adkin's chemical...I'd have never made that connection the way that you did."

Amanda flushed slightly. "Why thank you, Sir."

"And that's enough of this "sir" business. I'm not the director of the agency anymore...It's just plain Harry. I'm out of the business...for good."

"Please, who are you kidding, Harry?" Lee scoffed. "If I know you, you'll never stay out of the business, not even with that damned thing hanging here instead of at the agency." He gestured to the painting.

"Well, Lee, I don't think anyone ever fully retires from this business...you can't...look at what just happened to me."

"Well, for your own good, you oughtta' just stay out of it from now on and leave it to the people you hired," Lee countered.

Their debate continued all through lunch with Amanda jumping in from time to time to play referee, until she finally changed the subject by asking, "Harry, do you mind if I use your phone? I'd like to call home and check on my boys?"

"Of course, Amanda. There's one in my study..." He gestured to a door off to the right. "Right through there."

Amanda entered the room, closed the door behind her and walked straight toward the phone on the desk, picked up the receiver, but had only punched in two digits when she paused mid-dial at noticing that much like the setup in the Q-Bureau, Harry's desk phone was attached to a tape recorder. She dropped the handset back into its cradle as she also noticed the speaker box connected to it. She slid around to the other side of the desk and into Harry's chair looking at the setup curiously.

At hearing laugher coming from the next room, she paused to listen for a moment to make sure that Lee and Harry were still occupied. Once satisfied that they were, she continued her perusal of Harry's desk, spotting a stationery set to her right then turned back to the phone set up to her left still musing over the reasoning behind it when she spotted another device tucked between the phone and the speaker that she was pretty sure someone would use for disguising their voice.

She picked it up to confirm her suspicions and asked, "What would the retired founder of the agency need one of these for?"

Amanda's thoughts began racing wildly as she reflected back on Lee's comments about how Harry had hated retiring...his flip remark about leaving the painting in the agency to watch the comings and goings...and how when it was being removed from the Georgetown foyer Lee had insisted that he be the one to do it personally and had refused her offer of help. He'd asked Ragmop to help him instead under the ever watchful eye of Mrs. Marston and had just asked her to bring her car so they could take it to Harry. Now she couldn't help wondering had Lee saying that not been just his usual sarcasm? Had Harry been _literally_ watching the comings and goings with the painting? Had there been some sort of camera hidden within the frame or the canvas? Was that the real reason he'd left it behind?

She placed the voice-disguiser back it its place and glanced around again, her eyes then fell upon the stationery on the desk...the same kind on which his card to her had been delivered with the words _Zulu blue_ scrawled on it. She'd learned from her conversations with Harry that he was the one who'd coined that phrase and she recalled the first time she'd ever heard it was early on in her career in the agency in conjunction with..."Blue leader..." she muttered aloud. "Zulu blue...Blue Leader...Zulu blue...blue...Oh my gosh!" The realization hit her like a bolt from the blue. She then shook her head and chuckled softly at that thought...how her mind had just pulled that phrase into the mix.

She realized that if she didn't hurry, one of them was sure to come looking for her to find out what was taking so long, so she rose from the desk, quickly made her phone call to check in with her family, but kept the conversation as brief as possible citing work pressures as the reason for the clipped phrases, ended the call and returned to the living room.

"What took you so long," Lee inquired.

"Oh, you know how my mother gets once you get her talking..." Amanda replied nonchalantly.

"Like someone else I know," Lee replied mirthfully. He then turned to Harry as he rose from his seat. "You know we really should get Amanda back to her family."

"Of course," Harry nodded as he too rose. "Can't keep a loving mother away from her children for too long. Let me walk you out."

"Thank you for lunch," Amanda said warmly as they reached her car then nodded toward the flowerbed while Lee approached the station wagon. "You know, Harry, your _blue_ bells over there are lovely." She then gave him a knowing look.

"They are at that...Did I ever tell you that blue is my favorite color?" Harry responded with a wink. "You know...Lee...he's known that for years...but I don't know if I ever told you that."

"I'll keep that in mind." She nodded in acknowledgment.

"Now, you be sure to take care of that scamp over there and keep him out of trouble, you hear me?" He nodded toward Lee who'd just opened the driver's side door of the car for Amanda. Amanda giggled at the idea of keeping Lee out of trouble, then Harry lowered his voice and added for her ears only. "I'll know if you don't."

"Amanda, are you coming?" Lee asked with an impatient wave of his arm to the open car door.

"Coming," she called to Lee, then whispered back to Harry, "Yes, I know," then said a quick thank you to Lee as she got into the car.

"What was that all about?" Lee questioned once he got into the passenger side.

"What was that all about?" Amanda repeated as she pulled her car out of Harry's long driveway and onto the main road.

Lee sighed and scratched his head. "Don't do that, Amanda...you know that makes me crazy."

"Don't do what?" she asked innocently as she cast a brief sideways glance at him before turning back to the road in front of her.

"You know damn well what...answer my question by repeating the question...didn't we just talk about this when I told you to stop following me?"

"Okay...fine...you wanna' know what it was about...fine...I'll tell you what it was about...I know that Harry is Blue Leader."

"Harry? Blue leader? Amanda, that's ridiculous... Harry's been retired since six months after he hired me twelve years ago." He then looked out the window at the passing trees to avoid her penetrating "mom" look.

"Okay...you said that you know that I'm lying to you when I answer your question by repeating your question back to you...well, I've got news for you, Buster...I know when you're lying to me...because you always say something like...Amanda, don't be ridiculous...like you just did...which usually means that I'm not being ridiculous at all"

He turned from the window to gape at her and said, "Amanda, I don't do that! Don't be rid-" He then stopped himself at the realization that she was right. "Would you just keep your eyes on the road, huh? We're getting close to the city where traffic's heavier and you need to pay more attention."

Amanda nodded. "Then...you get impatient and want to change the subject..."

"Harry is NOT Blue Leader! You're wrong, okay! Now, just drop it!

"...then you wanna' drop it entirely..."

In an exasperated tone, Lee growled, "Amanda..."

"Fine. consider it dropped. You're the one who wanted to know what I was talking to Harry about anyway..." She then turned her full attention back to the road, but with a smug grin.

Lee shifted nervously in his seat, not liking her look at all. "What are you grinning about?"

"Me? Grinning? Nope...there's no grinning...mm-mm..." She shook her head as she expertly steered the wagon onto the Key Bridge.

"Uh-huh..." Lee responded skeptically. He was silent for a long moment as he watched her smoothly navigating the Saturday afternoon city traffic. Taking a deep breath and in a tentative tone, he said, "Amanda?"

"Hmmm?" She answered without averting her eyes from the road.

"You know...this...um...this idea of yours...about Harry...and I'm not saying it's true...but you know that's not something that you can go...you know...talking about to anyone else at the agency...not even Billy. You know that, right?

In a perturbed tone, she replied, "Well, of course! I'm not an idiot!" With a loud screech of tires she pulled the car to an abrupt stop in front of Lee's apartment building. "This is your stop."

"So, it is."

"Well?" She gestured to the building.

"Yeah...I guess I should..." He too gestured to the building.

"Yes, you should."

"So...I guess...I...Uh...I'll see you at the office on Monday."

"Monday..." she repeated coolly.

Lee sighed as he realized that he wasn't going to get much more out of her, got out of the car and walked forlornly into his building.

Once Lee was inside his building, Amanda let out a laugh, said, "Gotcha!" and pulled the car away from the curb to make her way home.

Once inside the building, panic set in and, Lee raced into his apartment, his thoughts in a whirl. What was he going to do? He reached for the phone and quickly punched in the numbers for Harry's country home that he and Amanda had just left. As soon as the phone was answered, He blurted out, "Harry...you're in trouble...Amanda knows!"

Harry chuckled and replied nonchalantly, "Of course, she does, my boy. She's not an idiot."

"But, Harry!...Harry?" Lee soon realized he was talking to nothing but a dial tone and glowered at the handset. As he hung it back up, he scratched his head with a completely puzzled look on his face.


End file.
